


i still remember

by 1000_directions



Series: luckyverse [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Boats and Ships, Dubious Science, Established Relationship, M/M, Public Display of Affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 12:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14448951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1000_directions/pseuds/1000_directions
Summary: Bucky and Louis on a boat.





	i still remember

“I realize as I’m saying this that it sounds incredibly stupid,” Louis says, “but I get so fixated on you being from a different time that I forget sometimes that you come from a place as well.”

“It’s not stupid,” Bucky says, shaking his head in a vain attempt to keep his hair out of his face. He’s fighting the wind, and the wind is winning. “I forget sometimes, too.”

Tony summoned Bucky to New York for some business that probably could have been handled over the phone, but Briana has Freddie for the week, so Bucky and Louis are spending a few days exploring the city that Bucky ostensibly grew up in, ninety years after he grew up there.

It’s almost unrecognizable. The streets are in the same order, but the traffic and the buildings and the food and the people are nothing like his memories, because the world he grew up in doesn’t exist anymore. He can’t go home the way that Louis can go home to Doncaster, because Bucky can’t travel back to Brooklyn in the 20s and show Louis the school he went to or the field where they played stickball or the fire escape where he kissed a girl and then got so nervous he almost threw up. The city is busy now, and it was busy then, but it’s not the same.

The ferry, too, is the same but not the same. He remembers being on the water, the way birds would fly behind the boats and swoop down at the fish disturbed by their wake. He remembers a sunset and a chill in the air, a skyline on the horizon. But he’d never taken the Staten Island Ferry, because that wasn’t his neighborhood. And he’s sure that even if he had, it wouldn’t be the same as the ferry he’s on now with Louis, the two of them subtly shivering as the wind picks up and whips at the water.

“It’s a hell of a view,” Louis says, gazing out across the water. The sun is just starting to set, and the water and sky are both approaching the same color. To one side of him, Bucky sees nothing but blue mirroring blue, and then as he slowly looks around, the city emerges from nowhere, majestic and infinite.

Aliens tried to tear this city down a decade ago. Bucky doesn’t remember it, but he knows that it happened. But the city was resilient, and it built itself back stronger than before, and it is a city that is joyously, unapologetically _here_. It can be so difficult to go on living once you’ve known unspeakable loss. Bucky knows that, and Louis knows that, and New York knows that, too. And yet, here they are, the three of them, refusing to give in and go quietly.

“I’m fucking freezing,” Louis says quietly. “Could you do the thing? Do you mind?”

“I don’t mind,” Bucky says. He looks around at the other passengers on the ferry, but they’re all looking off into the distance, craning their necks for a first glance of the Statue of Liberty. “Can I kiss you?”

“Please,” Louis says with a small smile. He brushes the hair out of Bucky’s eyes, and Bucky places his hands securely on Louis’ waist as he ducks down to kiss him.

Bucky’s metabolism is very efficient. Most people are able to keep warm because the chemical reactions in their bodies give off heat as a waste product. Bucky doesn’t lose as much energy to heat though, so he runs a little cold in general. But he and Louis have learned that if he concentrates very carefully on his cells and his blood vessels and his heart, and if he gets excited in a way that isn’t productive, his body wastes more energy and raises his core temperature dramatically. This is useful because Louis is often cold. This is also useful because Bucky was looking for a good excuse to kiss Louis on this boat.

So Bucky lets Louis lick into his mouth, lets Louis slide his hand up his coat sleeve, his palm cupping Bucky’s metal. Bucky wraps his arms fully around Louis, pulls him closer, and Louis yields to him. And Louis being pliant is unexpectedly sexy, and Bucky’s heart rate continues to increase, a positive feedback loop that keeps getting him more and more turned on and therefore less and less biochemically efficient, and he feels himself panting into Louis’ mouth as his skin warms the both of them.

“Perfect,” Louis murmurs against Bucky’s lips, sliding a hand into his back pocket. “Thanks, love.”

“Better?” Bucky asks, rubbing his hands against Louis’ upper arms.

“Much better,” Louis says. He grins lazily, presses another kiss to Bucky’s mouth, and then he turns around. Bucky wraps his arms around Louis from behind and rests his chin on top of Louis’ shoulder.

“Let’s get pizza after this,” Bucky whispers, his lips right against Louis’ ear.

“Cheers,” Louis says. “Do you have somewhere in mind? Do you know the best spot to go?”

“Not at all,” Bucky admits with an easy smile. He’s a tourist in his hometown. It’s funnier than he’d expected.

“That’s all right,” Louis says. He reaches behind himself and finds the back of Bucky’s neck without even looking. He ruffles his fingers through Bucky’s hair and says, “We’ll find somewhere.”

They both fall silent for a minute, looking up at the Statue of Liberty as they pass right by her. She’s far enough away that she should feel small, but her presence is so commanding that even at this distance, she’s breathtaking.

“Okay,” Bucky says. “Let’s go have an adventure.”


End file.
